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A female grey seal with a yellow collar has been hitting the headlines recently. She has been avoiding capture for months while FoHS wardens and members of the public got more and more anxious that she was in need of help to get the yellow collar (a frisbee) removed. Capture by a specialised netting team was the only way to get her to the RSPCA Wildlife Centre at East Winch, near Kings Lynn, but while still able to get back into the sea, catching an adult seal is a difficult task.

Finally, on 24th September, all the elements were in the right place and FoHS chairman, Peter Ansell, with seal wardens Teresa and Billy Le Compte, were able to net Mrs Frisbee and transport her to RSPCA East Winch for removal of the frisbee.

The plight of Mrs Frisbee hit social media and her ‘capture’ attracted enquiries from as far afield as USA and Australia looking for information about the seal for their own news programmes. It seems seals have an international appeal!

The link below is to a BBC online news broadcast with graphic details of Mrs Frisbee’s wound. We are pleased to say she is very lively, feeding well and there’s every reason to expect that she will be returned to the wild as soon as her wounds have healed.

The appearance of giant-sized plastic pipes on holiday beaches is an unexpected event in any part of the world. Vast lengths of pipeline, 8ft in diameter, turning up on beaches in Norfolk caused a stir in the media on 10th August, and astonished residents and holiday-makers who were confronted by them between Sea Palling and Winterton. While they could hope to see seals in these parts, these sea monsters were something else!

The unscheduled delivery was part of a consignment of piping in transit from Norway to Algeria. The pipes, up to 480 metres long (1574 feet), were being towed to their destination when the tugboat was in collision with an Icelandic container ship, causing twelve sections of piping to break loose. Four of them beached, the remainder were secured at sea and anchored off the Norfolk coast. Guard vessels were placed to warn passing shipping. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency announced that the plastic pipes pose no danger to the public.

Engineers are planning their removal and return to Norway, but meanwhile curious seals in the area are having fun with them, and the pipes are becoming an attraction for tourists.

Update 16th August 2017 …

Recovery of the beached pipes is underway as explained in this BBC News clip:

Renee Smith, our first treasurer, announced her retirement from the post at a committee meeting on 26th June 2017. Renee has agreed to remain an active member of the committee. Teresa Le Compte, will take over from 1st July as the new treasurer.

The committee is immensely grateful to Renee, who has looked after the finances of the group since 2012, and thanks her for the time and skill she has contributed over her period in office. The Chair and committee members are pleased that Renee is to remain on the committee team.